The Nourishing Sap of the Holy Spirit

By David Hobbs

17 . . . you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root . . . [Rom. 11, NIV]

I was on the road last week, promoting my book Out of the Fire. This consisted of dropping off copies at fire stations, praying over churches, and visiting bookstores and newspapers. Each morning I spent an hour in prayer seeking divine direction, but most of all seeking to spend some time in the Divine Presence. I had two different, wonderful experiences in the Lord that are typical of what can happen when we spend time seeking Him.
The first was at the only church I could find in Sierraville (Sierraville being the place I spent the night). The church was just outside of town on its own 1/3 acre plot carved out of pastureland. With no dwellings on either side, the area behind the church had perfect privacy. So for an hour I praised, worshipped, sang, and shouted declarations of God’s glory, as the sun rose over the mountains ringing this beautiful valley in the Sierras. I let it all out until the glory descended and I felt my face shining like Moses’ face in days of yore. I had opened up the floodgates of my spirit, the glory came down, and it was refreshing, invigorating, and very satisfying.
The following night I was in a motel cabin in Greenville. The only churches I had spotted were in town surrounded by houses. What was a Christian to do? After reveille I remained in the cabin and began walking back and forth from the front door through the bedroom into the little kitchen to the back door—the longest route I could pull off in the little cottage. Without being too loud, nevertheless I began singing in worship to the Lord, lifting up my hands and praising Him, calling on His Name and giving Him glory.
After about 20 minutes I realized that His Presence had come into the room. I couldn’t see or hear anything different (expect the lights seemed almost imperceptibly brighter and sharper in focus). But mostly I could sense His Presence with my Spirit. When that happens I stop what I’m doing, sit quietly and bask in His presence, even as Mary loved to sit at His feet. I listen for what He might want to say, which happens not with a voice, but by putting thoughts in my mind and seeing how I respond to them.
We had a very special time together: quiet and intimate; totally different from the day before. He was giving me things to think and write about and my mind gradually got more and more caught up with these thoughts and ideas until I became aware that His Presence had lifted and was fading. Then I kicked myself for not paying enough attention to Him and letting my thoughts draw me away. (In general though, I have found it difficult to stay for a long time in His Presence.) What would it be like to learn the secret of living one’s whole life in His Presence? Wonderful beyond imagination! Both experiences in prayer were marvelous, though completely different.
After I got home and was meditating on these delightful experiences, the Holy Spirit quickened to me the verse quoted above. Then it dawned on me that the nourishing sap comes from the Holy Spirit and it flows every time we are in God’s Presence. That’s why Jesus said in John 15:

5 If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

It’s the presence or absence of the nourishing sap that makes the difference whether we are alive and productive in the Kingdom, or withered and dead. And the sap flows when we are in His Presence (through prayer times such as I had, corporate worship times, or any time we come apart from the world and experience His Presence). The sap is always in Him, but only when we are plugged into Him does it flow into us.
Beloved, we need to learn the secrets and practice the art of being in His Presence!